Retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Saturday decided to lower the interest on provident fund deposits for 2021-22, according to the PTI news agency. The EPFO’s apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustees has decided to provide an 8.1% rate of interest on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for 2021-22. This is the lowest since 1977-78 when the EPF interest rate stood at 8%, the news agency added.
The move comes as a major hit to the earnings of over 60 million subscribers of EPFO. The decision was taken in EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees (CBT) meeting, however, it will have to be ratified by the finance ministry before it takes effect.
The interest rate in the last fiscal was kept at 8.5 per cent. It was decided by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) in March 2021.
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“The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO’s) apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees has decided to provide 8.1 per cent rate of interest on Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for 2021-22 in its meeting held on Saturday,” a source told PTI.
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After the CBT decision, the interest rate on EPF deposits for 2021-22 will be sent to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence. EPFO provides the rate of interest only after it is ratified by the government through the finance ministry.
EPFO had provided 8.65 per cent interest rate to its subscribers in 2016-17 and 8.55 per cent in 2017-18. The rate of interest was slightly higher at 8.8 per cent in 2015-16.
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In March 2020, EPFO had lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 8.5 per cent for 2019-20, from 8.65 per cent provided for 2018-19.
